Bottle capping machine



July 14, 1931,. R E HM 1,814,386

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE July 14, 1931.

R. E. HILL BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed IJan.

6 Sheets-Sheet 2l Mmmm v July 14, 1931.

R. E. HILL BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Jan.

6 Sheets-Sheet 4 [nre/Maf' July 14, 1931. R. E. H|| l 1,814,386

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Jan. l1, 1926 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 77 zd' 7] y@im g. 7g M72 72 W [nue/Maf' L/ 5 El MMM-MM July14,1931. REHILL I`1,814,386-

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Jan. 11, 1926 e sheets-sheet .6

[bref/far v Y im patented .uly 14, 1931 UNITED STATE s PATENr gricaROLAND E. HILL, F DEGATUR, ILLIN 01S., ASSGNOR- 'IO WILLIAMS SEALINGCORPORA- TION, 0F DECATUR, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OI? ILLINOIS BOTTLECAPPING- MACHINE Application filed January 11,. 1926.

This invention relates generally to bottle capping machines and moreparticularly to a machine which applies and fastens a bottle capcomprising a slotted skirt surrounded by a divided ring and to which isapplied a fastening lever having a cam head such as illustrated in theWilliams Patent No. 1,108,959, dated vSeptember 1, 1914.

The object of the present invention is to provide a rotary cappingmachine, that is, one in which the bottles are fed into the machine andcarried around a circular path and while so carried have the capsapplied thereto and fastened.

Another object of the invention is to provide in connection with amachine of this type, a construction ywhereby-the bottles will be movedup into firm engagement with a fixed head duringthe capping'operation,and

provision made for maintaining the bottles in such elevated position bya predetermined force which will yield to any excess of pressure, andthereby prevent`- injury to the bottle, cap, or mechanism.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a machine employing theaforesaid advantageous characteristics which can be quickly and easilyadjusted to accommodate bottles of various heights; and a still furtherobject is to provide 'a machine which will be compact in arrangement andoccupy com* paratively small space due to the peculiar manner ofconstructing and arranging the actuating parts.

With these various objects in view the invention consists in the novelfeatures of construction of the various parts and in the manner ofcombining or arranging the same, all of which Will be fully describedhereinafter and set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification Fig. 1 is anelevation of a bottle capping machine embodying one kform of myinvention; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, certain parts beingomitted; Fig. 8 is a sectionaly plan view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;Fig. 4 is a sectional plan'view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1 together witha plan view of the feed and delivery belts; Fig. 5 is a detail viewpartly in-section of the means Serial No. 80,530.

for raising and lowering the capping head;

Fig. 6 is a detail view partly in section illustrating the actuatingmechanism; Fig. 7 is a plan view ofthe bottle positioning means and Fig.8 is a sectional vieu7 of the same.; Fig. 9 is an enlarged rview of thetrack for raising the bottle carrier together with the yieldable meansfor relieving pressure and Fig. 10 is an elevation of the same.

In carrying out my invention I employ a rbase 10 to which is connected astandard 11. Rigidly connected to the standard 11 near the lower end ofthe same is a collar 12 from which extend in oppositeV directions thebracket arms 12a and to the upper ends of these bracket armsare'connected pulleys 13 around which travelthe feed belt 14 by means ofwhich bottles are delivered to the machine, and the delivery' belt 15 bymeans of which the capped bottles are carried away from the machine.

The collar 12 also has a bracket arm 12b extending therefromand carryingthe track for lraising the bottle lifters and which will be more fullydescribed hereinafter.

Fitting upon the non-rotatable standard 11, is a tubular rotatablestandard 16, there being a suitable bearing 17 arranged between thelower end of the standard 16 and the collar 12 in order to reducefriction, which' bearing can be of theball or roller type as preferred.Connected to the lower end of the rotatable standard 16 is the bottlecarrier 18 comprising avplurality of radially disposed arms having theirouter endsenlarged and vprovided with vertical bores or openings 18a` inwhich work the rods 19 carrying each a table or platform 20 at its upperend. Eachv table or platform 2O is provided on its underside with a stoplug` or boss 21 having a pin 22 kdepending therefrom which pin works ina recess in the carrier 18 and holds the table or platformagainstlateral movement during its up and down movements..

Upon the lower end of Aeach rod 19 constituting a part of the bottlelifter there is mounted a roller 23, these rollers being adapted totravel, as the bottle carrierrotates, upon the track 24 carried by thehorizontal arm 12b heretofore referred to. The track 24 is curved in thearc of a circle as most clearly shown in Figs. 4, 9 and 10. At theextreme left hand end of the track 24 it is inclined as shown at 24a sothat the roller 23 will be raised, and the roller then travels along theportion 24b which is substantially horizontal.y

Beyond this, however, the track is inclined at 24c so that the bottlelifter is moved upwardly a distance equal to this inclination. At theupper end of the inclined portion 24c the track is provided with apivoted section 25, pivoted at 25a and having a tongue portion 25bworking in a slot 25c cut in the adjacent portion of the track 24.Beyond the section 25 the track slopes off rapidly as indicated at 24d.

The section 25 is yieldable so that in case the bottle is subjected toexcess pressure this section can yield downwardly and thereby relievethis pressure. The section 25 is normally held elevated by means of apin 26 which works in a vertical bore produced in the track 24, and thispin 26 is maintained in position by means of a lever 27 pivoted at 27 toa bracket 27b depending from the track 24, and upon the right hand endof the lever 27 there is arranged a weight 28, this weight beingadjustably arranged upon the lever so that the elevating force can beregulated as desired. The upward movement of the left hand end of thelever 27 is limited by means of a screw 29 working through the end ofthe lever and contacting at its upper end with the bottom of the track24 as most clearly shown in Fig. 10, a locking nut 30 being employed tolock the screw 29 after the same has been properly adjusted. Therelative position of the section 25 is therefore determined by theposition of the pin 26, which in turn is determined by the position ofthe lever 27.

rI"urning with the bottle carrier is a capping head 31 comprising asleeve surrounding the tubular standard 16 and having arms or a plateextending horizontally therefrom and having spaced recessed bosses 31ain which are inserted the chucks 32 against which the bottle cap isadapted to be brought; and it will be noted that each chuck 32 has arecess 33 cut in the face thereof inorder to receive the lever of thecap and permit the operation of the lever turning device hereinafterdescribed.

The bosses 31a have connected thereto, the

lvertical arms 31", to the upper ends of which is attached the cam track34 having the inclined portions 34'n1 and 34b for actuating thelever-tripping mechanism.

The capping head which rotates in unison with the bottle carrier isadjustable vertically in order to accommodate bottles of different sizesand this adjustment is accomplished by means of a nut 35 carried by thecapping head 31, and in which turns a screw 36, the lower end of saidscrew having a beveled gear 37 Lelli-,ese

caused to rotate upon `the standard 11 and carry with it the bottlecarrier and capping head through the medium of a worm gear 4() which iskeyed to the capping head 31 which in turn iskeyed to the tubularstandard 16 so that in rotating, the tubular standard 16 and the cappinghead will be carried together.

The worm gear 40vis turned by means of a worm 41 journaled in a bearing42 at the end of a depending arm 43 which is connected to a sleeve 44mounted upon the upper portion of the fixed standard 11, this sleevebeing stationary,l and a suitable bearing 44a is interposed betweentheworin 40 and the sleeve 44 which bearing may be either of the roller orball type as preferred.

This sleeve 44 also has an arm 45 connected thereto upon which ismounted the motor 46 for the purpose of driving the machine, a belt 47running from said motor to a pulley 48, the pulley 48 being a doubledifferential pulley, which in turn drives the belt 49 traveling aroundthe pulley 50, mounted upon the end of the wormV shaft 42 so that therotary movement of the motor 46 is communicated by the aforesaid beltsand pulleys to the worm and gear forthe purpose of giving the rotatingparts of the machine their proper movements.

Depending from the fixed sleeve 44 is a curved arm or yoke 51 to thelower end of which is attached a chute 52 inclined as shown and throughwhich the caps are fed to the Y machine, the cap atthe end of the chutebeing picked off and applied to the mouth ofthe bottle as said bottlecomes into the proper position just as the lifting mechanism begms tooperate upon said bottle and move the bottle with the cap thereonupwardly so that` thecap comes into contactv with the chuck 32 and has acontinuous pressure applied thereto until the tripping operation hasbeen accomplished. y

rlfhe lever tripping mechanism is stationary, that is to say it does notrevolve with the bottle carrier and capping head but is carried by thestationary sleeve 44 there being an arm 53 projecting laterally from thesleeve 44 and to which the capping mechanism 54 is connected, thiscapping mechanism being shown and described in my application filed Nov.8, 1924 Serial No. 748,692, and a detailed description thereof at thisplace is therefore deemed unnecessary.

The sleeve44 is preferably formed with an interior chamber and upon thetop of the the chamber 60, by means of which lubricant can be suppliedbetween the fixed and movable standards, thereby facilitating the rotation of the machine.

In order to hold the bottles properly positioned upon the bottle liftersduring the operation of the machine I employ a bottle holding device foreach bottle, these bottle holders being arranged between the bottlelifter and the capping head but moving in unison therewith, and inpractice I prefer to construct this bottle holder in the followingmanner.

A split collar is rigidly fixed to the rotary standard 16 and to thiscollar 70 are attached two substantially semi-circular plates 71, theseparts being so connected that a sub-V stantially circular plate isprovided and in the periphery thereof at definite intervals I cutnotches 72. It will be noted in the present instance that siX suchnotches are cut, and in radial alignment with these notches, the platesare slotted obliquely as indicated at 73. To the circular plate 71adjacent the notch portion 72 I attach the holding jaws 74 and 75, thejaw 74 having an outwardly v projecting finger 76. These jaws areconnected to the plates by means of bolts 7 7 pass- Y ing through thejaws and the slots 73, so that these jaws can be adjusted toward andaway from each other and at the same time they are adjusted toward andaway from each other, they will-be adjusted radially inwardly andoutwardly on account of the inclination of the slots 73 and it will benoted by reference to F ig. 7 that the jaws at the eXtreme left of theholder are adjusted to accommodate a small size bottle 80, whereas th-ejaws adjacent thereto are adjusted to accommodate a medium sized bottlea, andto accommodate the large size bottle 8()b the: jaws are moved backto their most operated and withdrawn positions so that the opening forthe bottley is substantially'coeXtensive with ther notch 72. The fingers76 serve to pick the bottle off from the belt 14 and move the same ontothe table or platform 2O Vof the bottle lifter and in so doing thebottle becomes positioned between the jaws as most clearly indicated inFig. 7. The direction of movemen;` of the belt 14 aids materially inthis operation and the finger 76 completes the gathering operation. Inthis figure I have indicated the three different adjustments, but inactual practice the machine will have all the jawsadjustedapproximately7 the same,

that is, all. of the aws will be adjusted to re-V ceive small sizedbottles, medium sized bottles or large sized bottles, so that a contin-vnous flow of one size of bottles through the machine will be acted upon.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The bottles 80 are fed intothe machine by means of the belt 14 driven from any suitable source, andas'they are delivered from the said belt to the table or platform 20 ofthe bottle carrier, the finger 76 as previously stated in connectionwith belt 14 causes the bottle tobe properly positioned upon said tableor platform and this at a time when the table or platform 2O is in itslowest position. As the bottle` carrier rotates the rollers 23 on thelower end of the rod engage the incline 24a at the end of the track 24and consequently` the bottle is slightly elevated, and while the roller23 travels along the portion 24b the cap 90 will be delivered from theend of the chute 52 and picked off by the mouth of the bottle, and asthe bottle carrier continues to travel around the roller 23 will startup the incline 24C and in so doing the bottle lifter will be raisedsuiiciently to bring the cap 90 upon ythe neck of the bottle intoengagement with the chuck 32 carried by the capping head, which cappinghead is moved in unison with the bottle carrier. i The track 34connected to the capping head is also rotating and just as the roller 23moves upon the pivoted section 25 of the lifting track; the portion 34aof thecam track 34 moves from beneath the roller 54a of the trippingmechanism, which 'roller drops down the steep incline 34b and causes thetripper 54b to come in contact with the lever 91 of the bottle capthrowing said lever down and completing the capping operation asindicated in `ig. 1e As the roller 23 moves off of the pivoted section25 it travels down the incline 24d and consequently permits the bottlelifter to drop and the fingen` 76 cooperating with any suitablemechanism (not shown) tends to force the said bottle into such positionthat it will move on to the delivery belt 15 and be tle and cap is atits greatest and the amount of pressure to which the bottle and cap aresubjected at this time will be determined by the relative `position ofthe weight 28 upon the lever 27 and also the screw 29. Y

Should the pressure, for any reason, due to irregularities in the heightof the bottle or any portion thereof, become excessive, the section 25being yieldable will be forced downwardly lifting the weight 28 inasmuchas the pin 26 will press upon the short arm of the lever. In this waythe excessive pressure is relieved and all danger of breaking orinjuring the bottle will be avoided.

YVhen the roller 23 passes off from the section 25 which has just beenslightly depressed the weight lwill immediately restore this sec!` tion25 to its normal raised position, this raised position being limited bymeans of the said screw 29.

In order to accommodate different heights of bottles the capping head isadjusted'vertically by turning the bevel gears and screw and themovement of the capping head carries with it the proper adjustment ofthe motor, chute, capy chute and lever tripping mechanism also.

In order to accommodate different sizes or shapes of bottles from thestandpointof hori- Zontal cross section the jaws 74 and 75 are adjustedupon the plates 71 as previously described.

The position of the table or platform 20 with reference to the bottlecarrier 18 is determined by means of the stop lugs 2l and the guide pins22 will permit the proper up and down movement of the table or platformwithout turning during such vertical movement.

It will thus be seen that I provide a simple and efficient bottlecapping machine capable of carrying out the objects hereinbeforereferred to and by means of which caps of the kinddescribed can beVapplied to and shifted upon the bottles in rapid succession as they arefed through the machine.

lVhile I have shown the machine as provided with siX bottle lifters itwill of course be understood that thisnumber can be increased ordecreased as desired so far as the operative cycles hereinbeforedescribed are carried out in the manner set forth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a rotarybottle carrier, having a plurality of bottle lifters, of a track forraising said lifters, a pivoted'member in said track, a pin working insaid track for holding said member elevated, a lever pivoted to saidtrack and supporting said pin and member, adjustable means forpositioning 'the lever with reference to said track and pin and a weightadjustable upon said lever to govern the lifting elevating force.

2. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a linedstandard, of a bracket adjacent -its lower end, and a feed beltconnected to said bracket, of a tubular standard rotatable upon saidfixed standard, a bottle carrier provided with bottle lifters ,connectedto the movable standard, a member having capping heads also connected tosaid movable standard above the bottle carrier and movable in unisontherewith, a nonrotatable yoke on said fixed standard carry- -ing amotor, a cap chute and a lever tripping device, a gear connected withthe movable standard and means connecting the motor and said gear, aVcam track carried by the head carrying member, and actuating the levertripping device and a stationary track below the bottle carrier forraising the bottle lifters at predetermined times.

3. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a fixedstandard, of a movable standard turnable thereon, a gear connected tosaid movable standard, a non-rotatable yoke carrying a motor and meansconnected with said motor for moving said gear, a cap chute and a levertripping device connected to the stationary yoke, a member connected tothe movable standard and carrying non-yielding capping heads, and also acam track, said cam track actuating the lever tripping device, a rotarybottle carrier connected to the movable standard, below the cappingheads, said bottle carrier having bottle lifters arranged in alignmentwith the capping heads, and a track for raising said bottle lifters,said track having an upwardly projecting yieldable section together withregulatable means for exerting a definite lifting force upon said tracksection.

4. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a rotatablestandard, of a bottle carrier connected to said standard and having aplurality of bottle lifters, a rotary member connected also to themovable standard, above the bottle carrier, and having a plurality ofnon-yielding capping heads, and also a cam track, a worm gearconnectedtothe movable standard, a non-rotating yoke on said fixedstandard a motor carried by said yoke, a worm alsocarried by said yokeand driven from said motor, said worm meshing with the worin gear, andturning said movable standard, said yoke also carrying a cap chute and alever tripping device, a stationary track below the bottle carrier forraising said bottle lifters, said track having a pivoted section, a pinfor holding said section elevated, and an adjustable lever forsupporting said pin, said lever being provided with means for regulatingthe lifting force exerted upon said pin.

5. In a machine for applying bottle caps, the combination with aplurality of revolving bottle lifters, yof a non-yielding head arrangedin alignment with each bottle lifted and with which the cap on thebottle is brought into engagement by said bottle lifter, saidnon-yielding head revolving in unison with the lifter, a liked trippingdevice operating upon the cap at a predetermined time, and meansconnected with the revolving nonyielding head for actuating saidtripping device.

6. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a pluralityof revolving independently movable bottle lifters and means for movingeach lifter, of a plurality of revolving non-yielding heads arrangedabove the bottle lifters and movable in unison therewith whereby as eachbottle is lifted with cap thereon said cap is brought into contact withits respective non-yielding head,

RSA1

means for carrying said heads, a cam track also carried by said means, afixed tripping device yoperated by the track and acting upon the cap incontact with the non-yielding head at a predetermined time.

7. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a pluralityof revolving independently movable'bottle lifters, of a plurality ofnon-yielding heads arranged above said bottle lifters and movable inunison therewith, means for carrying said non4 yielding heads, a camtrack connected to said means, a fixed tripping device operated by saidcam track, and means for vertically adjusting the non-yielding heads andtrack together with means for revolving in unison the bottle lifters,non-yielding heads and track.

8. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a basecarrying ay fixedv standard, said fixed standard having bracketsconnected thereto, one of said brackets having a feed belt connectedtherewith, the

other bracket having a delivery belt connected therewith and the thirdbracket having a track connected therewith, a plurality of independentlymovable bottle lifters moved vertically by the track, a plurality ofnonyielding heads arranged in alignment with the bottle lifters andrevolving in unison therewith, means for carrying said nonyieldingheads, a cam track carried by said means and moving in unison with saidheads, means for revolving the heads and bottle lifters anda stationarytripping device operated by the cam'track.

9. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a basecarrying a fixed standard, said fixed standard having brackets connectedthereto, one of said brackets having a feed belt connected therewith,the other bracket having a delivery belt connected therewith and thethird bracket having a track connected therewith, a plurality ofindependently movable bottle lifters moved vertically by the track, aplurality of nonyielding heads arranged in alignment with the bottlelifters and revolving in unison therewith, means for carrying saidnon-yielding heads, a cam track carried by said means and moving inunison with said heads, means for revolving the heads and bottlelifters, and a stationary tripping device operated by the cam track, thenon-yielding heads and cam track being vertically adustable withreference to the bottle litters.

10. In a device of the kind described, the combination witha bottlelifter, of a nonyielding head arranged in alignment therewith, togetherwith means for revolving said bottle lifter and non-yielding head inunison, a liXed tripping device and means movable in unison with thenon-yielding head for actuating said tripping device.

11. In a device of the kind described, the

combination with a revolving bottle carrier.

having bottle litters, of a stationary track having a pivoted inclinedmember, a pin for supporting said member, a weighted lever forsupporting said pin, an adjustable screw carried at one end of thelever, and an adjustable weight at the other end of said lever.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature. l

ROLAND E. HILL.

